Author Archive for R. Oliphant – Page 37
Yavapai Community College has announced the Verde Valley Young Artists Showcase that will be held on the Verde Campus at the Patty McMullen-Mikles Art Galley from January 19 to February 16. This will be a showcase of Verde Valley High School Students art work.The 70,000 or so Sedona and the Verde Valley residents have so far been left out of similar major cultural programming events for the months of January and February 2023
In February, Yavapai Community College continues its slate of outstanding cultural and entertainment events, most of which will be attended by west side residents and all of which are scheduled for the Performing Arts Center on the Prescott Campus.
On Friday, February 3 at 7 p.m. the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players will perform “H.M.S. Pinafore” at the Yavapai Community College Performing Arts Center. The College describes the Players as “those comic opera magicians, who brought us The Mikado and The Pirates of Penzance, are back with Gilbert & Sullivan’s delightful tale of true love, class warfare, hidden identities, and a web of secrets that threaten the politest ship in Her Majesty’s Fleet.” Tickets: $59 | $47 | $32 | Youth $10.
The Arizona Philharmonic manos percussion quartet will perform at the Yavapai Community College Performing Arts Center on February 5, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. The College describes the trio as follows: “The percussion trio, manos received a resounding standing ovation in 2020. Expanding to a quartet, AZ Phil’s principal percussionist Eddie Solomon now joins our timpanist Maria Flurry and Tucson Symphony Orchestra percussionists Homero Cerón and Fred Morgan. In this concert they combine their percussion instruments of wood, metal, skin, and water to snare you into a thoughtfully curated, virtuosic program of familiar favorites and exotic musical selections. From delicate to bold to unabashedly fun, manos delights the ears and fills the soul with percussion’s wealth of musical possibilities.” Ticket range from $10 to $49.
As a part of its satellite program attended by mostly west Yavapai County residents, the College will show the National Theatre Live: Henry V, at the Performing Arts Center on February 15, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. Tickets range from $10 to $15.
The presentation is described by the College as “Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) plays the title role in Shakespeare’s thrilling study of nationalism, war and the psychology of power. Captured live from the Donmar Warehouse in London. Fresh to the throne, King Henry V launches England into a bloody war with France. When his campaign encounters resistance, this inexperienced new ruler must prove he is fit to guide a country into war. Directed by Max Webster (Life of Pi), this exciting modern production explores what it means to be English and our relationship to Europe, asking: do we ever get the leaders we deserve?”
Rita Rudner will perform at the Performing Arts Center Sunday, February 19 at 7 p.m. Tickets: $59 | $47 | $32. The College describe her program as follows: “Laugh, and think – but mostly laugh! Find out why Rita’s epigrammatic one-liners and sly observations about life, gender, and relationships have made her a late-night talk show favorite and one of Las Vegas’s hottest tickets.”
Bill Saxton & the Harlem All-Stars will perform at the Yavapai Community College Performing Arts Center on February 24, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. The College described the event as follows: “Hear straight-ahead jazz saxophone the way it was meant to be when this renowned jazz sideman – alumnus of Harlem’s Nick’s Jazz club and six-album veteran – lights up the stage with his quartet. As part of our intimate Cabaret Series, your $55 general admission ticket includes seating at a table onstage, appetizers, desserts, coffee/tea and a cash bar.”
The Prescott Pops Symphony will present “Irving Berlin: From Rags to Ritzes,” at the Yavapai Community College Performing Arts Center on February 26, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. Tickets range from $5 to $45. The College describes the event as follows: “Composer and lyricist Irving Berlin is one of the greatest American songwriters. Born in Russia in 1888, his family fled the persecution of their Jewish community, emigrating to New York City in the mid 1890s. The Prescott Pops Symphony and special guests present the marvelous music of this brilliant composer. “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “Cheek to Cheek,” “Always,” “Puttin’ On The Ritz,” and many more of his classics will charm and enchant you. An afternoon of unforgettable music – we promise you’ll leave with a happy heart!”
New B.S. possible because of legislation passed by the Arizona House in February 2021 and approved by the Senate in May 2021 (Senate bill 1453)
Yavapai Community College announced at a news conference held on the Prescott Campus January 11, 2023, that it will offer a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business online when the fall 2023 semester begins August 12, 2023.
The Yavapai College announcement follows one made in December by Maricopa Community College. Maricopa announced that the Higher Learning Commission had accredited it for seven bachelor’s degree programs, which will be offered in the fall 2023.
Dr. Diane Ryan
Students who desire to register for Yavapai’s Business classes can do so as early as April 17, 2023. They should visit yc.edu/bsb for more information.
The curriculum, according to Dr. Diane Ryan, Vice President of Academic Affairs for Yavapai Community College, who oversaw development of the four-year Bachelor’s degree, will consist of “120 applicable credits specifically designed to help students achieve career success.”
The benefits to students who take the course follow:
- It is designed for new students, continuing students, or graduates. Those who are fresh out of high school, have no college, or already have an associate degree in any discipline can enroll.
- It is offered entirely online.
- It can be completed in the traditional pattern for a full-time student of 30 credits per year, which will take four years to complete.
- It can also be completed through 8-week classes, significantly reducing completion time. The 8-week classes will start in August, October, January, March, and June
- It is incredibly affordable when compared to other baccalaureate degree options. Students will pay $155 per credit for in-state tuition for upper-division courses.
- It will use Open Educational Resources for all classes, which means meaning that there are no textbook costs for students.
- It has no associated student fees.
It has a Credit breakdown of:
- 31 credits of general education requirements
- 44 credits of lower division requirements, which are introductory business courses
- 30 credits of upper division requirements in 300 and 400-level courses
- 15 credits for the organizational management and leadership concentration
Registration for classes begins on April 17, 2023, with the classes starting at the beginning of the fall semester on August 12.
Recently published 184 page Appendix to the Master Plan shows Prescott based executives continued infatuation with sports programs and wasteful sports projects that serve almost exclusively west county residents
If you want to know what the Yavapai Community College Prescott based executives are thinking about when it comes to long-term future development in the District, a good place to start is the recently published Facilities Master Plan Appendix to the Master Plan. The Appendix shows a determination by the Prescott executives to spend an estimated total of around $7 million on a new soccer field and athletic expansion.
The investment in the soccer field will apparently be made despite the fact there is no need for such a facility. The College has for decades successfully leased two soccer fields – one in Prescott and another in Prescott Valley. Playoffs have been held at those venues. For example, over 5,000 attended the NJCAA National DI Soccer Tournament held in Prescott and Prescott Valley back in 2018. Moreover, the College completed building a practice soccer field in 2020 on the Prescott Campus at a total direct and indirect cost that it has yet to publicly reveal.
District needs for other areas of the County such as expanding the existing CTE facility on the Verde Campus, converting classroom M-137 into a 300 seat auditorium, or adding two kitchens to the Sedona facility find no future consideration. The future needs of Chino Valley and Prescott Valley likewise seem to have been ignored.
Other educational needs throughout the District are likewise being ignored. For example, the Prescott Campus has developed a large music and theatre curriculum. However, music and theatre can be found only on the Prescott Campus – a roundtrip drive for some in the District of 150 miles or more.
Note that the long-term plans as outlined in the Appendix for the Yavapai Community College District were not discussed at the November 2022 meeting where the Governing Board met and approved in concept what appears to be a five-year development plan (maybe seven year). That plan did not include the soccer field and several other projects one can now find in the recently published Appendix to the Master Plan.
Note that The Appendix to the Master Plan and the Master Plan appear somewhat confusing in terms of projects, timing, and cost estimates.
The Appendix to the Master Plan and approved Master Plan are available to read at the Community College website.
The 70,000 or so Sedona and the Verde Valley residents have so far been left out of similar major cultural programming events for the month of January 2023
Yavapai Community College has begun the new year with an outstanding slate of cultural and entertainment programs, most of which will be attended by west side residents and all of which are scheduled for the Performing Arts Center on the Prescott Campus.
The 1970’s pop artist Tony Orlando will perform Friday night, January 13 at 7 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center on the Prescott Campus. According to the Community College’s press release about this event, tickets start at $35, with a fundraising pre-show dinner also available with a separate ticket purchase.
The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, with special guest violinist Renaud Capuçon, perform Thursday, January 18 at 7 p.m. at the Yavapai College Performing Arts Center in Prescott. Tickets for the concert are $45 to $65, and only available by contacting the Yavapai Symphony Association at (928) 776.4255.
The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra concert is the first of six major orchestral events
scheduled for the winter/Spring semester at the Performing Arts Center on the Prescott Campus. The ASU Symphony Orchestra will perform February 12 at 3 p.m. The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields will hold a concert March 7 at 7 p.m. Ms. Sarah Chang, one of the world’s great violinists, headlines a program set for March 26 at 3 p.m. The Les Violons du Roy Chamber orchestra is scheduled for April 30 at 3 p.m and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra is scheduled for May 16 at 7 p.m.
The Lone Star State: Texas Tenors will perform at a concert on Friday, January 20. A Community College press release describes the Tenors as Texas-born performers who have built a versatile and family-friendly style. The Press release says that they have played every possible venue, from performing arts centers to casinos and symphony halls to outdoor festivals and corporate events. They collaborate with some of the world’s most prestigious symphonies, including the Houston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and The City of Prague Orchestra. They have performed at The White House National Tree Lighting, and the Congressional Medal of Honor Ceremonies as well as numerous NBA games and charity events.
Tickets for the Texas Tenors start at $35.
The Community College has apparently not scheduled any major similar cultural events for Sedona or the Verde Valley in January 2023.
Proposition 308 passed in November ensures that any Arizonan, regardless of immigration status, who has graduated from an Arizona high school and has lived in the state for two consecutive years, is granted in-state tuition at its colleges and universities
Arizona voters narrowly passed Proposition 308 in November. Proposition 308 allows undocumented students both access to in-state tuition rates and state-funded financial aid.
It is of particular importance to “Dreamers.” These are persons who entered the United States without legal permission as children. Many of them came from Mexico and other Latin American countries and consider themselves American, having grown up and possibly only speaking English in the United States. Some may not have even been aware of their unauthorized immigrant status until they were older and unable to obtain a driver’s license or financial aid for college due to their lack of a Social Security number.
Though it passed by less than 60,000 votes, the change in treatment of undocumented immigrants is a significant one. Recall that in 2006, Arizona voters passed Proposition 300, which did the opposite. It prohibited undocumented students from receiving in-state tuition and financial aid.
According to experts, until this vote, Arizona was one of three states, including Georgia and Indiana, to specifically block undocumented students’ access to cheaper in-state tuition – making it one of the most draconian policies in the country. (Alabama and South Carolina both go a step further: prohibiting undocumented students from enrolling in any public postsecondary institution whatsoever, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.)
Yavapai Community College president Dr. Lisa Rhine has made no public comment regarding the passage of Proposition 8. However, the Chancellor of the Maricopa Arizona Community College District, Dr. Steven R. Gonzales, applauded the decision by Arizona voters.
Dr. Gonzales said: “Throughout the years, MCCCD has fought to provide Arizona’s most affordable tuition for high quality associate’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees, and workforce training to all in-state students regardless of their immigration status. The passage of Proposition 308 will allow thousands of Arizona DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival) students to pursue their dream of obtaining a higher education, and we look forward to serving them.”
Proposition 308 makes higher education more affordable and attainable for DACA students entering college for the first time or returning to college to learn new skills and re-enter the workforce.
Plan view is to develop program at CTEC and possibly at Mingus High School; Did Sedona mayor- elect Scott Jablow’s speech to the Governing Board at the November meeting possibly alter rigid thinking by Prescott based College executives regarding the future of EV training in the Verde Valley?
The five-year development plan proposed by the Prescott-based executives of Yavapai Community College, as presented at the November 2022 Governing Board meeting, suggests that they are not enthusiastic about developing a comprehensive electric vehicle (EV) training program at the Verde Campus. Instead, according to the plan documents, they may consider placing an EV program of some sort at Mingus High School.
Even placing such a program at Mingus High School seemed to generate reluctance. For example, Career and Technical Education Dean John Morgan told the Governing Board that “we have leased a facility from Mingus High School in the past, but we didn’t get the desired enrollment when we tried to run it there.”
Dean Morgan also indicated that the College was far from immediately ready to institute EV training. He said that the College was “waiting a couple of years at least in our planning horizon to let the industry catch up with us.” He also said that at present EV training is proprietary. “That is, if . . . you’re on a Tesla. If something goes wrong with it, it comes up on your screen, and it says, go to your Tesla dealership.”
One bright spot for the Verde Valley was a result of Sedona’s mayor-elect Scott Jablow telling the Governing Board that Sedona was prepared to host a Community College EV training course as a part of its EV program. As a result of that speech, Dean Morgan told the Governing Board at the meeting that at some point he would consider the Sedona offer.
What follows for your information are excerpts from the College plan documents relevant to an EV training program.
The Yavapai Community College-based Northern Arizona Regional Training Academy, NARTA, had 28 new police officers complete their 21-week training program in the fall semester. They participated December 8 in a swearing in ceremony at the Yavapai Community College Performing Arts Center.
According to the brief answers given to a Board member at the November meeting, the advisory committee meets twice a year and advises the College on how it should move in developing automobile related issues such as when to move on developing its Electrical Vehicle program.